This editorial acknowledges the 100th anniversary of the Cook County Forest Preserves. It discusses the Forest Preserves’ history and current challenges, including the conflict of interest inherent in the Preserves being overseen by the…
Local governments across the country are searching for ways to more humanely and cost-effectively treat individuals with mental illnesses who come into contact with the criminal justice system. According to a…
Report applauds level of public input in planning, warns of declining pension health In a report released today, the Civic Federation supports the $187.4 million budget proposed by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. The…
Some recent progress has been made when it comes to reducing the number of local governments in Illinois. The State of Illinois has 6,963 local governments. To provide context to this issue, the table below displays the type and number of…
Unincorporated areas lie outside municipal boundaries. The residents and businesses located in these areas are usually provided municipal services such as police protection and building code enforcement by county government or special…
This article details a decade of leases, deals and debts related to Millennium Park—a park originally envisioned as a $150 million open green space that would be no cost to taxpayers. The Civic Federation said the lack of financial…
Cook County is a home rule government with three primary responsibilities: collecting tax and fee revenue, protecting public health through the administration of a public health and hospital system and ensuring public safety and justice…
The consolidation and dissolution of local units of government has been the subject of much discussion recently in Illinois. The purpose of this blog post is to briefly summarize a recent report released by the Illinois Local Government…
The Civic Federation joined with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago on April 23, 2014 to co-host a conference on ways that municipalities in Illinois can avoid or resolve fiscal…
A recent report by the Illinois Supreme Court raises significant concerns about Cook County’s pretrial services. The Cook County Pretrial Services Department (PSD) was established in 1990 to address a host of concerns, not the least of…
